


The Problem with Genies and Bottles

by Annariel



Series: UNIT and C19 [7]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Primeval
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Team, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-02
Updated: 2012-04-10
Packaged: 2017-11-02 22:43:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/374168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annariel/pseuds/Annariel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>UNIT have taken over research on the anomalies where Prospero left off, but when the ARC team come to check over their security measures sabotage comes to light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to fredbassett for beta-reading

Captain Jon Lyle stood nervously in reception rubbing his thumbs, waiting for the ARC team to arrive. He hadn't seen the team for some time, too long in fact. He hardly knew most of them now. Even Connor and Abby felt like strangers since they'd got back from the Cretaceous.

A dark SUV pulled up into the reserved parking space in front of the building and the anomaly team piled out. Connor and Abby, Lyle was relieved to see, appeared relaxed and happy. They walked towards the building, holding hands easily and unselfconsciously. He'd met up with the two of them a week or so after their return, in a pub not far from the refurbished ARC. Connor and Abby had both looked tanned and fit, but had a weariness and awareness about them that Lyle recognised from men who had spent too long in Afghanistan or Iraq. They'd smiled tightly, held hands nervously, and sipped their drinks but underneath the polite exterior they had both been twitchy and snappish. Lyle went home and told his lover, James Lester, that the pair of them needed a good shrink, preferably one who knew something about PTSD.

Just behind Connor and Abby walked Captain Becker, who he'd never liked, though he'd never exactly disliked him. Becker was talking to a petite brunette who was wearing a short dress in a truly startling shade of orange with a wide yellow belt and matching platforms. Lyle felt the need for sunglasses. She could only be Jess Parker. Lyle had wondered what James meant when he'd placed particular emphasis on the word `colourful' when he had described her. That meant the two sober-looking types at the back had to be Matt Anderson and Emily Merchant. Lyle studied them as they approached. They were both unknowns, though James had briefed him. The two of them looked remarkably normal for people centuries out of their time. Lyle watched as Matt said something to Emily and she smiled slightly in response. James's description of both of them had used the word `private'.

Connor held open the door and Lyle found himself held tight in an enthusiastic hug from Abby.

"Hello stranger!" he gasped once she let go of his ribs.

She thumped him playfully on the shoulder, but her face was alight with one of her big, genuine smiles. "Stranger to you too! You never call! You never write letters."

"I _am_ sleeping with your boss," he pointed out.

Connor snorted. "Lester never calls or writes either, he just sits in his office and deploys sarcasm upon any invader."

"And you love him for it! Come here!" Lyle pulled Connor into a hug.

Connor's arms flapped awkwardly and Lyle let him go. "What was that for?" Connor squeaked.

"It's good to see the two of you acting like yourselves again. You were still way to traumatised last time I saw you."

"Yeah, readjusting was hard." Abby's face fell.

"You managed fine!" Pixie Jess jumped between them grinning and linking her arms through Connor and Abby's. "Go on! Show him the rings!"

"Rings?" asked Lyle.

Abby pulled up her left hand, displaying a small diamond ring. Connor lifted his as well to display a plain gold band. 

"Congratulations! When did that happen?" Lyle grinned.

"Couple of months back, but we'd been keeping it quiet," said Abby.

"They only told us this morning," remarked Becker, slipping around the side and holding out a hand for Lyle to shake.

"I was going to say Lester was in trouble for not telling me," returned Lyle. They shook hands like the professionals they were.

Then Lyle turned his attention to Matt and Emily. "Good to meet you." 

Matt's handshake was firm but cautious, his face carefully neutral. Emily had a polite smile but she, too, looked guarded. Probably to be expected, given their background.

"So why are we here then?" asked Becker as Lyle signed them in.

"Lester didn't tell you?"

"Nope, just gave us all the day off and then told us to get over here and see you before you drove him to distraction," said Abby.

"So what's up?" asked Connor.

Lyle nodded. It made sense that James didn't want to brief them in the ARC. Although Philip Burton was dead and gone, James wasn't yet certain who was pulling which strings on what remained of the anomaly project.

"Follow me. I'll explain while I give you the tour," he said.

Lyle started to lead them out of reception.

"What is this place?" Connor asked, immediately slowing everyone up so he could peer through the door of the first room on the corridor.

"UNIT research lab," said Becker.

Lyle grinned. Becker had being doing his homework. "UNIT's version of the Anomaly Research Centre," he corrected.

"What!" Connor sounded outraged.

"You mean you're continuing Prospero's work?" Matt's voice was calmer, but there was more anger there.

"I'm just security, mate, but you know as well as I do you can't put genies back in bottles. There was a mad scramble for New Dawn and Prospero's assets from every covert research group on the planet."

"This is madness," whispered Jess.

Lyle shrugged. He was bored by all the arguments about the advisability of investigating the anomalies. It was clear that arguing against it was like standing in front of a tidal wave and hoping you could keep it back by sheer force of will.

"It's going to happen, Miss Parker. Somewhere, someone is going to be researching this stuff. The way Lester sees it... the way _I_ see it, it's better to have UNIT doing it than some shady subsidiary of C19 or Montsanto or half a dozen other organisations we have no good links to and no real oversight over."

"Makes sense, I suppose," said Becker doubtfully.

"So why are we here?" asked Matt, still brusque and abrupt.

"Security consultancy. Right now, more than half the technology they're using was developed by Connor, and I gather Miss Parker is not only familiar with, but a small genius at using most of it." Lyle was surprised by a glorious grin from Jess. Someone wasn't complimenting her often enough.

"And the rest of us?" asked Matt.

"I can't think of any people with more experience of what can come out of anomalies and the dangers they may pose nor, for that matter, on how a building should be designed to safely contain anything that does."

"Apart from you, obviously," said Becker suddenly. "You've done this as well, why call us in?"

That was the bottom line, wasn't it? Lyle had worked in the special forces team associated with the anomaly project before he'd moved to UNIT. He'd been there for a long time, probably longer than Becker. However, Lyle's thumbs were pricking like mad. Not something he normally admitted to, but he had been through enough with Connor and Abby that they, at least, deserved the truth. Becker too, to a lesser extent.

"My thumbs itch," he said at last. "There's something I've over-looked, something bad and I need you to find it soon. The first test anomaly gets opened this afternoon."

* * *

"What's your plan of action?" asked Becker as they crammed themselves into Lyle's tiny office.

"I'd like Connor and Jess to look over the technical specs and prototypes we've got for the ADD and so on. I've given Miss Wickes a buzz, she's our Operations Manager now, and she'll be down here in a minute or two. She can take you along to the main office to look at the ADD, and then probably up to the labs and workshops where the technical specs and prototypes are kept.

"And the rest of us?" asked Abby.

"I want Becker to go over all the plans and security protocols with me. He had to do them for the ARC so I'm hoping he can spot something. As for you three, I'm not sure. You can stick with me for the security brief or just go snooping around the place if you like. I've got you full access as consultants. I really don't know what I expect you to find or where you might find it."

"Abby should come with us!" said Jess. "To be with Connor."

Abby laughed. "We're not actually joined at the hip you know."

"Yeah! I can look after meself. I can even make my own coffee!" Connor was grinning too. Lyle was surprised how much more together Connor seemed than he remembered. But then roughing it for a year with little hope of rescue probably focused the mind.

Abby shrugged. "On the other hand, I'm not going to be much use with security protocols. I'll check out the labs with them. I'm used to that environment now and I might spot something."

Lyle watched as she and Connor exchanged a glance and their hands bumped discreetly against each other. He hoped fervently all they had planned was a little quiet hand-holding while Connor looked over the equipment. If they were caught shagging in a broom cupboard, Lyle would never live it down.

"I'd like to check over the protocols," said Matt. He still looked sulky but Lyle knew he had a lot at stake in this. A hostile eye on the security protocols could be just what was needed.

Lyle turned to look at Emily. 

"I'd like to see this experiment to open an anomaly," she said.

"That isn't for another hour or so."

"I want to see that too," said Matt.

"I imagine we all do," agreed Abby. "Want to come with me Emily and poke around the labs?"

Emily shook her head, brunette curls bouncing. "I'll stay and look at these protocols, if that's all right. I'm curious to learn about them."

Lyle nodded. He noticed Jess exchanging a significant glance with Abby behind Emily's back and then looking pointedly between the Victorian woman and Matt Anderson. Emily was certainly standing close to Matt but Lyle didn't see it himself, though goodness knows they were both reserved enough that reading either of them was a challenge.

"Captain Lyle?" At that moment Miss Wickes arrived in the doorway. 

Lyle had to stand back as the round of greetings took place all over again, with Abby giving her a hug, and rings being shown off. Lorraine Wickes had been Lester's PA until Philip Burton had taken over the ARC. Lyle knew she'd applied for the field operations job that Jess had eventually landed. When Lorraine didn't get that job, she had transferred over to UNIT. Lyle's superior, General Bambera, had taken to joking that she got all her best people from the Anomaly project. Mind you, she mostly said that because she got a kick out of watching James squirm. A lot of the military enjoyed seeing civilian civil servants put on the spot occasionally.

"ADD and then the labs and prototypes, right?" Miss Wickes caught Lyle's eye, once the initial excitement had died down.

"Yup that's right. You've got Connor, Abby and Miss Parker here to babysit."

"Oh! Call me Jess," insisted the brunette.

"For you, anything," Lyle said with a sweeping mock bow and handed the blushing woman on to Miss Wickes.

He could hear her giggling as the four of them disappeared up the corridor.

Lyle took in the three people still in his office. With Connor, Abby and Jess gone there was at least space to breathe, but the place was still cramped. He pulled the building plans out of the locked cupboard in the corner so they could be spread out over the table.

"UNIT's had this place for several years. It used to be an old airbase and this building includes a converted hanger. Over the years it's been used for all sorts but they made some modifications in preparation for this project," he explained.

"You'd have done better with a custom built place," Becker remarked.

"I know, but funds aren't entirely limitless."

"You heard about the burrowing bugs from the future?"

"Who didn't?" Lyle spread the plans out on the table. "You've got the hanger here. This is a big long corridor that slopes up from it to the main laboratory. The corridor is mostly used shifting large equipment. People tend to use the stairs. These bits you see here though are retro-fitted titanium doors. The whole place can be turned into ten sealed compartments. The idea is that we won't have to gas the whole facility in order to kill something in one section. The labs themselves are also encased in titanium boxes and all the walls and doors have been reinforced in some way. There are environmental controls outside each lab maintaining them at a lower pressure than the external area to keep any invisible airborne nasties at bay. We never needed it with the anomalies before, but it's a non-negotiable with UNIT. Too many alien plague scares. But the environmental controls won't keep in anything large that's got through the titanium. Beyond that we're going to have to rely on proper monitoring so we can react quickly to any incursion."

"Proper monitoring? Was that a dig?" Becker asked frostily and Lyle realised he was still thinking about the bug incident.

"I didn't get to see the internal inquiry on the bugs. I heard you had a single man in the lab with the anomaly and no remote monitoring. I also heard Burton over-ruled you on locking the thing."

"Locks don't always hold."

"Heard that too. Our protocol is that the things are to be locked at all times when no one is actually messing about with them. Then we monitor the locks, if they fail an alarm sounds. That's the theory, anyway."

Becker groaned. "Messing around with them?"

"Yeah, I know, it's when some bright spark is messing around that we're going to have trouble. So protocol is that there have to be three people, including at least one armed guard in the room when messing around occurs, and we have panic buttons, multiple cameras and so forth."

"What if someone takes out the cameras in advance?"

Lyle spread out the plans. "That's what I want you to do. I know you and Quinn played cat and mouse through the ARC's systems. I want you to go over these. Tell me where our vulnerabilities are in terms of sabotage."

"How likely is that?" Becker was already leaning over the plans.

"Dead certainty I'd say. You had Johnson's outfit, UNIT and the CIA messing with the ARC. I know for a fact that C19 have been sniffing around this place."

"For a fact?"

"Caught a `delivery man' trying to bluff his way in last week. We traced him back to C19, though not until after he'd managed to escape from UNIT custody."

Becker groaned again. "I assume you checked all other deliveries."

"Yep, they were clean."

* * *

Abby took an opportunity to study Lorraine as she led them through the corridors of the UNIT building. She'd never really got to know her well before getting lost in the Cretaceous, but had been surprised how Lorraine's absence had effected her when she came back. Jess's job had been extended to cover many of Lorraine's PA duties but she didn't exude the air of calm competence in the face of paperwork that Lorraine had done and Abby, bewildered by the bureaucracy involved in having been Missing Presumed Dead and now, apparently, alive had missed her assistance.

Lorraine looked well. She'd always been reserved, choosing to fade into the background behind Lester and never venturing an opinion unless asked, so Abby wasn't quite sure what she expected of her now. 

Lorraine pushed open a door and led them into a large open plan office. There were a couple of people working at desks and, at the far end of the room, something that was clearly an Anomaly Detection Device, though it didn't look quite like the ones they had had in either of the ARCs.

"This is bizarre," commented Jess.

"Now you know how I felt when I got back from the Cretaceous," Connor grinned.

"What's bizarre about it?" asked Lorraine.

"It's the same as the ADD and yet different. You've modified stuff." Jess slipped into an empty chair and her hands began to move over the keyboard.

"So you've built this up from scratch?" asked Abby.

"UNIT got all Prospero's IP. I'm not sure why that included the ADD which was developed before Burton got involved, but apparently it was. To be honest I think they built it mostly out of curiosity, since the ARC is still responsible for all the day to day detection and containment." Lorraine stood a little back from Jess, watching her working the device.

"This definitely isn't identical to the machine I use back at the ARC," mused Jess.

"Maybe they went from my original designs," suggested Connor, leaning over her shoulder for a better look.

"Or something halfway in between?" suggested Abby.

Jess shook her head vigorously, "I oversaw all the modifications myself. If this was constructed from some halfway set of plans I'd know about it."

Abby glanced at Lorraine who was frowning slightly with her lips pressed tightly together.

"What is it?" Abby asked.

"It definitely isn't the machine Connor built, I operated that myself. But I'd assumed this was the later version after Jess had modified it," said Lorraine.

"Is that a problem?"

"I'm not sure, but I think we may want to look at the schematics the engineers were working from as well as the prototypes themselves."

"No problem!" said Jess, fingers flying over the keyboard.

"I'm afraid the schematics are hard copy only. Another piece of what Lyle calls UNIT paranoia."

Jess pouted and spun her chair to face the three of them. "So what now?"

"Well, the ADD is odd, but not particularly perilous," said Abby slowly.

"But odd, is definitely, well... odd." Connor flapped his hands. "Significant odd, I mean, not just odd, odd. Yeah?"

"Yeah," agreed Abby slowly.

Connor glanced at his watch. "Not much time until the test either."

"The plans are stored in Lab 1 anyway. You can look at them there, as easily as you can here," said Lorraine.

"I think I should stay with the ADD. I might be able to figure something out from here," suggested Jess, slowly.

"Lorraine should stay too. She knew the original, might be useful to compare notes," said Connor.

Abby noticed Lorraine frown at this, but all she said was, "I'll show the two of you how to get to Lab 1 then. Once you're there they'll get the plans out for you."

Connor nodded.

* * *

Lyle shut the blueprints back in the cupboard. Matt and Becker had cross-questioned him about everything but in the end they came to the same conclusions he had when he'd first reviewed them. Everything was as safe as it could be, given you were messing around with rips in space and time. There were a lot of things that could go wrong, but they all required multiple failures and none of them seemed particularly likely. They were no closer to identifying Lyle's source of unease.

Lady Emily had mostly kept quiet, but Lyle had been observing her. She watched everything with interest and the couple of questions she had asked had been searching and to the point. He found he liked her. Meanwhile Matt and Becker had been jostling for position, arguing over the plans and alternately showing off and sulking with each other. Every so often a quiet word from Emily pulled Matt back from the brink, but Becker continued to bristle.

Lyle was suppressing the temptation to tell them to get a room.

"What next?" asked Becker.

"I reckon a tour. Maybe you can spot something when you look at the place."

Matt glanced at his watch. "They'll be opening that anomaly shortly. I'd like to get to the lab."

Lyle rubbed his thumbs. He didn't want to waste time escorting Matt and Emily across half the building. He wanted to take Becker around the various entrances, looking for access points.

"We can split up. You said these passes gave us full access," said Emily.

"Yeah, but this place can be a bit of warren. You'll need me to show you the way."

"Assuming those plans are accurate, Mr. Lyle, I think I've memorised the route."

Lyle looked startled. "You don't even know which lab it's going to be in!"

"There's only one large lab, you said so yourself. Certainly only one with a big observation platform."

Matt smiled. "I assume we're not the only visitors who have come to watch."

"The General's going to be watching but she's scared off pretty much anyone else. She wants to convince herself it's safe before we put down a red carpet, play a fanfare of trumpets and allow visiting dignitaries to watch. If you're sure you know the way..."

"I'm sure," said Emily.

* * *

Lyle decided to start with the underground parking area on the lowest level of the building. It had a fairly narrow entrance, with an awkwardly placed checkpoint that made it difficult for the guard to see properly into a vehicle.

"So, are you and Matt...?" Lyle tailed off suggestively, as he led the way into the parking area.

"No!" said Becker far too quickly.

Lyle whistled quietly. "That was very forceful. You getting ribbed about it?"

"Nothing I can't handle."

"Fair enough."

Becker chuckled ruefully. "To be honest when people try to set me up with Matt, it's a bit of a relief. Mostly they're trying to set me up with Jess."

"Not your type?" asked Lyle sympathetically.

"I didn't say that. I just don't like people interfering."

Lyle raised his eyebrows, "Well you should make up your mind, you know, otherwise someone's going to get hurt."

Becker scowled and then pointed across the parking lot. "What's that van over there?" he asked curiously, presumably to deflect Lyle's questioning.

"No idea, but it means I can show off our check-in system."

Lyle fished a portable terminal out of his pocket and switched it on. Then he typed in the registration number.

"That's not right," he muttered.

"What isn't?"

"According to the system that vehicle brought a visiting team from the Anomaly Research Centre."

"But it didn't," said Becker. They were both hurrying up to the van.

"They had the right passes, according to this. One bloke, currently in the canteen," Lyle muttered. 

"Maybe the tracker on his key pass is being spoofed somehow and he's loose in the building," suggested Becker.

"No, there's cameras in the canteen. I can see him and he's moving. I'll send a couple of security round to pick him up."

Lyle switched on his radio and began talking into it hurriedly.

By this time they had reached the van. Becker rattled one of the door handles speculatively, then gave it a sharp experimental tug. There was a sudden thud from inside and the vehicle rocked.

"There's something in there," muttered Lyle, unholstering his gun.

"Not good. Where's your armoury?"

"We've got secure weapons dumps on each floor." Lyle thumbed his radio again. "We've got a creature alert in the parking area. I want alpha team here now on the double to contain it."

At that moment there was an ominous clunking sound.

"Did that van just unlock itself?" asked Becker, backing away.


	2. Chapter 2

Lyle aimed his gun at the door. He tossed the radio at Becker. "Co-ordinate."

"Alpha team? This is Captain Becker of the Anomaly Research Centre. We need you here now!"

The handle on the van turned and then the door swung open. Becker had a brief impression of a dull grey shape streaking past him. Lyle opened fire.

"Predator! It's a fucking future predator!" Lyle shouted.

Lyle turned to follow the creature as it ran across the ceiling. That was when Becker noticed the curved claws of a second predator gripping the edge of the van door. He tackled Lyle to the ground and they both rolled under the nearest car as another predator landed where, moments before, they had been standing.

"I thought it was Matt you were after," whispered Lyle.

Becker clamped a hand over his mouth. A strange clicking, chirruping sound filled the car park. Becker watched the feet of one, then two, then three, then four predators walk past the car.

Lyle tapped his arm insistently and then indicated that he should roll off. Becker obeyed. Lyle was up and out from under the car in an instant. He opened fire on the predators from behind. Becker stayed where he was and seized the opportunity to update the alpha team.

"We've got future predators in here, five by the looks of things. I hope you guys are up for this."

"Can't be worse than daleks," came a cockney reply.

Becker saw Lyle dive under the car opposite him. There was more clicking and chirruping. Becker turned his head sideways. Slowly the head of a predator moved down below the chassis of the car. Becker held his breath and reminded himself the thing couldn't see. The creature clicked and Becker tensed, gripping the radio as if it were a gun. Across the way Lyle's fingers were counting down from three. When Lyle reached zero Becker rolled and scrambled away from the car. Behind him Lyle's gun went off twice.

Becker spotted a fire extinguisher on the wall of the car park. It wasn't much but his lack of a gun was making him feel exposed. He sprinted across the garage hoping the predators were distracted. He pulled the extinguisher out of its clasps and turned to see a predator heading straight for him. Reflexively he swung the heavy metal container, connecting it with the creature's head and batting the predator sideways. It scrabbled around ready to leap on him and Lyle opened fire, running across the open space towards them. The thing jumped. Becker fell to the ground under its weight. Frantically he rammed the fire extinguisher upwards, shoving it into the creature's jaws. He heard Lyle swear, the sound of his running feet drawing closer. Then a final shot and blood spattered across his face. He glanced up to see Lyle standing right next to him, his gun at the side of the creature's head.

"Took your time," muttered Becker, pushing the thing off him.

"You dropped the bloody radio and broke it," was all Lyle said, stirring the pieces with his foot. 

Becker didn't even recall letting go of the thing.

He looked around the car park. Wherever the other predators were, they were no longer with them.

* * *

Emily led Matt up a short flight of stairs and then along several corridors and up again onto an observation platform overlooking a laboratory. They were greeted by a stern-looking middle-aged black woman in military uniform who introduced herself as General Bambera. She was accompanied by an aide in civilian clothing, a Mr. Hughes. In the laboratory below them, Matt could see two soldiers, each armed with an M4 and a couple of people in white lab coats who he assumed were scientists.

Connor and Abby were there as well. Connor was seated in front of a huge pile of papers and schematics.

"What are those?" asked Matt.

"Allegedly they are Prospero's plans for the locking device, opening device, anomaly detector and various other bits and pieces we'd been working on."

"Allegedly?" asked Matt.

"Mr. Temple is concerned," said General Bambera.

Matt noticed she was watching Connor carefully.

"What about?" asked Matt.

"These aren't my plans," Connor said.

"Maybe Prospero altered them?" suggested Emily.

"That's what I'm trying to work out." Connor frowned, peering at another diagram.

Matt looked down into the lab below where a blonde woman appeared to be making some final adjustments.

"You could delay the experiment." Matt looked at Bambera.

She looked back at Connor. "Is it serious?"

"Not sure," mumbled Connor.

Matt looked down in the lab again. He watched the two scientists. The blonde woman was walking between the anomaly opening device and the locking mechanism. The other, a young man with spiky jelled hair and boyish features was sitting behind the locking device, looking nervous. 

The researcher looked up to the observation gallery.

"Mr. Temple?" Bambera asked. She was holding up a hand as an indication that she wanted the researcher to wait.

Connor slammed shut the schematics he'd been looking at. "I'm fairly sure the opening device is fine. Not many modifications and they mostly seem to be to make the anomaly more stable, as far as I can tell anyway."

He pulled the next set of charts towards him.

Bambera nodded and changed her hand to a thumbs up.

The blonde woman flicked a switch. An anomaly sparked into existence, hanging in mid-air. 

Matt watched it, a feeling of anxiety coiling in his stomach. Emily put a hand on his arm. When he glanced at her she smiled at him reassuringly.

"Uh oh!" said Connor ominously.

Down below them the young scientist fired the locking device. Matt watched the beam pulse outwards and engage with the anomaly, which pulsed in turn and then grew in size.

"That isn't meant to happen," muttered Matt. 

The assistant flicked switches hurriedly. The soldiers' guns were suddenly aimed directly at the anomaly.

Emily pulled open the door of the observation room. "We'd better get down there."

"And do what? We're not armed."

Emily gave him a look.

"You may not be, but I am," said the General firmly. "I'll go first."

They were halfway down the narrow staircase when an earth-shattering roar shook the walls of the confined space.

Matt could see the scientists already outside the lab, huddled at the foot of the stairs. Gunfire could be heard in the room beyond.

"What is it?" asked Emily.

"T. rex I think," said the assistant. His eyes were wide and staring.

Matt snarled and peered around the man into the space beyond. The massive creature was clearly visible. One of the soldiers was already down, a bloody mess on the floor by the door. The other was laying down covering fire. Matt scooped up the fallen man's gun, almost without thought, and trained it on the T. rex.

"Everyone out!" he shouted at the remaining soldier.

The soldier glanced at him and hesitated.

"You heard the man!" barked the General, appearing suddenly at Matt's side, her own pistol unholstered and trained upon the vast beast.

The soldier began falling back towards the door. The T. rex lunged forwards, its jaws snapping, while its tail sent laboratory equipment flying. Matt winced as both the anomaly creation device and the locking device were smashed into twisted lumps of metal and scattered electronics.

"He's still alive," said Emily suddenly, and Matt realised she was crouched over the injured soldier.

Matt swung the M4 over his shoulder and grabbed the prone man under one arm. Emily had already grabbed the other arm and they began to haul the man out of the room.

The General covered their retreat, her pistol making popping noises as she fired at the T. rex.

Klaxons started to sound and the dinosaur roared in annoyance. Fortunately the noise distracted it towards the wall-mounted speakers. Matt and Emily dragged the injured man with them and then the General stepped smartly out of the room, slamming shut the heavy door just as the great tail thrashed against it, causing the frame to bend, but the metal held.

The General wiped her brow and frowned at the buckled architrave. "Well it seems we're soon going to find out how long our ultra-strong boxes can contain that kind of creature.

"Ummm...!" Everyone turned to see Connor standing on the stairs with the schematics clutched in his hands. "The locking device won't work," he said pointlessly.

"We noticed. Shame!" said Bambera staring at him.

"Someone changed my plans. It will make the anomaly wider!" 

"We noticed that too."

Matt risked a look through the tiny window in the lab door. The T. rex looked to be contained, at least for the time being.

"Mr. Temple, if you could get hold of one of our locking devices do you think you could fix it so it worked again?" asked Bambera.

Connor nodded. "Yeah, shouldn't be too difficult."

Matt looked across at the lead researcher who nodded. "We've got a second one in the workshop. I can take you there."

The speakers crackled into life.

"We have a major incursion. Repeat, we have a major incursion. All personnel are to evacuate immediately."

Bambera picked up a phone on the wall and tapped in a number. "The creature is contained at least for now. No need to panic," then she stopped and frowned.

"What's a future predator?" she asked turning to the anomaly team.

Matt snatched the phone from her. "Who is this?" he demanded.

"It's me, Lyle, and you've just liberated a phone from a General so you are now in double deep doo doo. You've got at least four FPs in there with you. Someone smuggled them in through the car park. Do you reckon you can get your lot out safely? We're going to move in as soon as we have enough backup."

"There's a T. rex loose in here."

"Contained, according to the General. Not a priority I'd say, and I never thought I _would_ say that."

"We don't know how long it will stay contained where it is and there's an open anomaly. Connor may be able to shut it down."

There was a slight pause on the other end. "How many soldiers do you have?"

"The General, myself, one standing, one badly injured, plus Connor, Abby and Emily but we don't have guns for them, not without reaching one of the arms lockers."

"Put the General on. It's her call."

Matt turned to find General Bambera observing him with her arms crossed and an inscrutable look on her face. He hoped she was amused, but he wasn't going to place any bets on it.

Matt offered her the phone. "He says he wants to talk to you."

"I _am_ surprised."

She took the phone and Matt watched her talking quickly to Lyle. She then put the phone back on the hook and looked thoughtfully at the anomaly team.

"Mr. Temple and Miss Maitland?"

Connor and Abby exchanged glance and then nodded.

"I will take you and Dr. Manners to fetch a locking device and shut this thing down. No unnecessary risks."

"With respect, Ma'am," Matt began.

Bambera turned a cold eye on him. "That's what Captain Lyle said. I hope you aren't going to question my orders."

"I don't work for you," Matt pointed out.

"Even so, I want you and Miss Merchant here, to take Mr. Hughes, Dr. Biggs, Sergeant Price and Private Watson to the nearest exit. Watson is wounded and urgently needs medical attention, which makes this a priority and I don't suppose your route will be any safer than mine."

"Where's Jess?" asked Emily.

Connor blanched. "Still in the office, I think."

"The office is close to an exit. They'll have evacuated," said Bambera.

"I should check," said Matt.

"I don't want..." began Emily.

Bambera scowled. "I can't order either of you, but I want people with experience of these creatures with each party."

"I have to check on Jess," said Matt.

"And my soldier?" the General asked.

Emily looked at the injured man.

"I'll go with him."

* * *

"Where's the nearest of these arms lockers you're supposed to have?" Becker demanded.

Lyle took a deep breath. "We wait for backup, then we go in mob-handed."

"What?"

"Use your head, mate. They've got several trained soldiers, including Matt Anderson, in there. The two of us won't make that much difference on our own."

"Jess and Lorraine aren't with the rest of them. They're on their own."

"If they've followed procedure they'll both be out of the building by now."

"And if they haven't?"

Lyle bit back the obvious retort about `too stupid to live.' He didn't know Jess, but he doubted Lorraine would be hanging around as predator bait. "They'll have evacuated."

Becker slammed a hand against the wall in frustration. "Jess isn't military. She expects to be safe."

"Lorraine isn't military either. But she has a calm head on her shoulders. Jess will be all right with her."

"Are you saying Jess can't think for herself?"

Lyle blinked trying to work out where the conversation was coming from.

"I don't know Jess Parker from Adam beyond the fact that Lester says she's the best field ops coordinator in the business, so you tell me. I won't stop you going in there on a one man crusade, but if I lose men because I have to extract you as well as all the civilians then..." Lyle tailed off wondering exactly what he would do.

Becker's eyebrow twitched. "You will issue Lester with a strongly worded complaint."

Lyle resisted the urge to grin. "A _very_ strongly worded complaint."

Becker glanced at the door to the car park, clearly torn.

"Look," Lyle said, trying to sound reasonable. "I know you like the girl, but you know as well as I do that if you let that cloud your judgment you might as well hand in your commission now. She's probably already out. If I were you, I'd worry more about your Matt Anderson butting heads with the General."

Becker shook his head. "I hope you're right about this."

* * *

Jess had been familiarising herself with the ADD systems under the not entirely friendly eyes of Lorraine Wickes when the klaxons went off and Lyle's warning came over the speakers. 

"What's the evacuation drill?" Jess asked Lorraine as she grabbed her bag.

"We've got five minutes to reach the fire escape at the end of the corridor. After that there are walkways on the third floor to the nearby buildings, the main entrance or the underground garage. That's assuming they don't start trying to seal the compartments."

"Let's be quick then. I really don't want to meet one of those predators again."

Lorraine shivered. "That makes two of us."

A gargling scream from the corridor stopped froze Jess's blood.

There were two other people in the room, a man and woman, both in various stages of grabbing their possessions. Everyone stopped still and silent.

"Security cameras?" Jess asked quietly turning back to the monitors in front of her.

Lorraine gently moved her to one side and started typing. A small woman in high heels and a suit that was a little too small for her tried peering through the narrow strip of glass on the door.

"I think I can see blood," she said.

Lorraine entered a login and password and then began pulling up several camera feeds. Jess gulped. The camera in the corridor outside showed a future predator, perched on the bodies of two men.

"Best not to go out that way."

Beside her Jess heard Lorraine draw a shuddering breath. 

"Should we turn the lights out?" the man asked.

Jess shook her head. "They're blind, it'll just make us blunder around. They hunt by sound so we need to keep quiet."

All four of them stood in silence looking at the door. There was a snuffling sound and a foot suddenly slapped onto the glass.

The man gave a little squeak and Jess glared at him.

They stood frozen to the spot as the predator's head came in view, snuffling at the glass. Then it was gone.

The man hurried up to the door and quickly turned the lock. "Everything's reinforced," he whispered. "We should be safe in here."

There was a thump and the predator reappeared at the glass, possibly alerted by the sound of the lock. Lorraine gasped and Jess saw her hand fly to her mouth stifling the sound. The man staggered away from the door.

The door handle depressed.

"They can open doors?" asked the woman, clearly horrified.

"They're bright," Jess whispered back. She turned to Lorraine, "What's the containment protocol?"

Lorraine's voice was rigidly calm despite the fear in her eyes. "If there's a risk of airborne infection then everything seals."

"That's not happened, I can still hear air-conditioning!" Jess said.

There was another thud. The predator was throwing itself against the door. Jess stepped backwards instinctively, afraid she would see the thin wood of the door splinter but it didn't. She reminded herself that the wood was covering a titanium frame.

"We're supposed to sit tight and wait for rescue," Lorraine told her. "Keep people informed of our situation." Lorraine smiled weakly and pulled her mobile phone from her bag, seconds later she was in a quiet conversation with someone, describing where they were.

Jess smiled at the other two people in the room, administrators of some kind, she assumed. "Hi, I'm Jess Parker."

The two people introduced themselves as Vandana Wentworth and Jim Higgins. They made a weak attempt at small talk but it quickly petered out.

Jess sat back down at the computer terminal. Now she was inside Lorraine's account she could pull up the building schematics. She began paging through them as a distraction and to set her own mind at rest, if nothing else. She was relieved to see that it had all been designed with potential creature incursions in mind. Most of the walls and doors were reinforced.

Jess glanced back at the door. 

The predator had vanished.


	3. Chapter 3

Emily finished tying the last bandage around the injured soldier. The young lab assistant, Biggs, stood quietly by her with the first aid kit. He'd hardly spoken but kept glancing anxiously into the lab with the T. rex.

Emily glanced between Biggs and Bambera's aide, Mr. Hughes. "Can you two carry him?"

Biggs nodded. They'd found a stretcher in the supply cupboard, along with the first aid kit and they already had Watson laid out on it.

Emily turned towards Sergeant Price who was standing a little way in front of them, covering the corridor.

"What's the quickest way out?" asked Emily.

Biggs grunted as he lifted the stretcher. "There's a five minute window after an alert for evacuation by the fire exits, then they seal up for safety. We should head for the main entrance."

Price shook his head. "If these things have come in through the underground car park we should avoid the ground floor. Our best bet is the walkway across to the next building. Maybe these things can't climb stairs."

"They can climb stairs," said Emily grimly, wishing she had a gun of her own.

Price nodded and began to lead the small party. Emily dropped into place at the rear, keeping an eye out behind them.

* * *

Lyle and Becker had established a command point by the car park entrance where they could use the security guard's radio. Another soldier, Corporal Wise had already set up a makeshift operations centre in then next building.

"So?" Becker asked impatiently as Lyle chatted on the radio.

Lyle scowled. "Jess and Lorraine didn't get out."

"Fuck!" Becker swore. "Give me that gun, I'm going in."

"No you're not. They've secured themselves and two others in an office. There's a predator in the corridor outside which you are _not_ taking on solo. It's bad enough that Mr. Anderson seems to have gone lone wolf on us."

"What?"

"Wise reports that the General has taken Connor and Abby up to the third floor. That's where they've got various prototypes. They'll be hoping to work out a way to close the anomaly as planned. Meanwhile Emily is with the party bringing the injured man out. Wise says they seem to be headed for one of the walkways. Anderson is on his own, heading downwards."

"Towards Jess?"

"Probably. It's obviously what you'd be doing if you were him. We'll have a squad here in ten minutes. Even a predator can't get through a titanium door in that time."

Becker ground his teeth.

* * *

"Tell me about the future predators," said Bambera as she led them through the building.

"They're from the future," said Connor.

She rolled her eyes.

"They're bad news," Abby elaborated. "Fast, deadly, they use echo-location and heat to find their way. I think they are functionally blind otherwise. We've used sound before now to confuse them."

Dr. Manners nodded. "We may be able to cobble something together once we get to lab 5 that can help us."

Lab 5 was a small room. It was crammed with desks and tables at one end, weighed down by bits of papers, computers and the odd touch of individuality like a trailing spider plant on top of the filing cabinet and what looked like a mini-golf set crammed into the bottom of a bookshelf.

The lab was deserted, signs of hasty retreat via the fire escape in evidence. Dr. Manners lifted down a bulky version of the anomaly locking device from a shelf.

"This is the prototype we made. Do you think you can fix it so it works?"

"Shouldn't be too hard. Just a matter of switching around a couple of wires to be honest." Connor began peering at it.

"How about this sound thing?" asked Bambera.

Abby grinned. "I rigged it up on a laptop. It was pretty effective but only at short range."

There was an open laptop on one of the benches. General Bambera pulled it towards her and turned it to face Abby. "You should get to work. I'm going to access the arms locker in the next corridor. See if I can get something bigger than this pea shooter."

Abby looked up sharply. "Should you go alone?"

The General shrugged. "Would it make a difference if someone was with me?"

Abby reflected that the chances were low. She bit her lip.

"If I'm not back by the time you're ready, don't wait for me," said the General and then she was gone.

* * *

They had been sitting tight for some minutes when Jess became aware of soft sounds up above her. A horrible chill ran down her spine. "It's in the air conditioning. We need to get out of here!"

"There are grills between us and the ducts. This room is supposed to be sealed," said Jim.

Jess made a face, "I bet those grills weren't strong enough to keep out a predator."

"We can't go out there!" exclaimed Vandana.

"We don't have a choice," said Lorraine firmly. "If the predator's in the air conditioning, it won't be in the corridor," she added though her voice trembled slightly.

Jess stood up and marched towards the door, aware of Lorraine at her side. She peered through the glass to double check what she could see of the corridor and then flipped the catch and firmly opened the door. The smell in the corridor hit her immediately. It was like walking into a butcher's shop. She gagged slightly. Vandana screamed and then covered up her mouth. There was a sound of tearing metal in the ceiling above them.

Lorraine shoved the two administrators out into the corridor and Jess hurriedly pulled the door shut. She glanced at her watch. They'd missed their five minutes and she didn't fancy their chances getting to any of the other escape routes.

"We'll hide in the server room," she decided.

"Why?" asked Jim.

"It's noisy and hot so hopefully they won't find us there. It's also just round the corner." Jess was already marching away from them and was relieved to hear Lorraine chivying the others to follow.

* * *

It took Emily's party about five minutes to reach the nearest stairwell. Biggs and Hughes struggled with the stretcher. It was clear neither of them did much physical labour. Cautiously Emily peered through the small window in the doors that lead onto the stairs.

The stairwell was brightly lit by fluorescent lights placed at regular intervals. Emily shifted her view, trying to get a good look in both directions. There was a blur of movement and one of the lights went out. She froze in place, her mind racing over the brief explanation of echo-location she had received from Matt.

"They can detect us by sound and by heat," she whispered.

"Can they sense us through this door? It's a fire door," asked Price.

"If they're fire doors they should be insulated," ventured Biggs.

Emily frowned and considered tactics. She glanced at the soldier. "I have a plan."

* * *

Matt was moving slowly down the staircase, all his senses alert. He didn't like to admit it, but he'd had a surge of adrenaline just at the thought of predators in the building, and riding it was a rush of nostalgia. Just like old times, checking deserted and ruined buildings for the things before you scavenged whatever you needed.

He was taking it slow. In the confined space of the stairwell, the predator's echolocation and heat sense wouldn't stretch far and all of its other senses were weak by comparison. He placed one foot quietly after another, listening the whole time for the faint clicking sounds that would betray the presence of one of the creatures.

At the moment the building was quiet, not even the sounds of footsteps as the various groups went their separate ways. Matt left the stairs and stepped onto the ground floor corridor where the administrative offices were. He winced at the smell which hit him. He'd experienced something like once before, when a predator had somehow breached one of the underground bunkers. His eyes flickered over the bodies on the floor. It wasn't Jess, which was the key thing.

* * *

Lorraine locked the door of the server room as soon as they entered. It was a largish room but, as with nearly every server room Jess had ever been in, it had clearly been chosen because its awkward shape rendered it useless for other purposes. She ducked under a low beam and climbed over some trailing wires. Lorraine followed her while Jim and Vandana hovered doubtfully by the door.

Jess had also picked the server room because it gave her much more direct access to the building systems. She began pulling up camera feeds immediately, Lorraine peering over her shoulder and typing in passwords where necessary.

She spotted Matt almost straightaway. He was walking cautiously along the corridor towards their office. 

"Where's the predator?" asked Jim, watching the feed from the office they had just left.

"In the ducts again," said Lorraine with a dull certainty.

Jess blinked, memories of the blueprints she'd looked at earlier flashing across her minds eye. "The ducts follow the corridor, above Matt."

Lorraine pushed Jess quickly to one side and began typing frantically. Jess realised within seconds she was logging into the building's PA system.

* * *

"Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be," said Connor. He grinned across at Abby and Dr. Manners and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. "I mean, it's as ready as it'll ever be. Done, in fact. Well, I think it is." He glanced uneasily across at them.

"It'll be fine," Abby reassured, wishing Connor didn't get so anxious when he was trying to impress someone.

"How's the sound freeze thing?" asked Connor.

"All set." Abby grinned. They'd rigged up a laptop with several music files and Abby had managed to set up the frequencies.

Dr. Manners tapped it thoughtfully. "I'm surprised it worked as effectively as you reported."

Abby nodded. "Yeah, surprised me too."

"Could it have been a juvenile, or injured, do you think?" asked Dr. Manners.

Abby shrugged. "Dunno, let's hope we don't find out, yeah?"

She looked around the room. Connor had the bulky locking device in his arms. It wasn't as compact as the ARC versions but that couldn't be helped. Meanwhile Dr. Manners was holding the laptop awkwardly. It was open and all set up ready to run. The General had yet to return from her hunt for weapons. Abby flexed her hands anxiously, she didn't like being unarmed.

"Err... the General said not to wait," said Connor breaking the sudden silence.

Abby nodded and looked at her two charges. For want of anything better she grabbed one of the mini-golf clubs from the bookshelf and then pushed open the door to the corridor.

She stepped out into the hallway and stopped instinctively, all her senses on the alert. She felt Dr. Manners attempting to move past her but she thrust an arm out, enough to block the scientist's passage. 

"What is it?" asked Dr. Manners. 

Abby heard the Connor shushing her.

"Matt! It's in the ceiling! The predator's are in the ventilation ducts." Jess's voice suddenly broke in over the speaker system, making them all jump.

Abby felt her gaze being drawn upwards towards the foam ceiling tiles. 

"Did you hear something?" Connor whispered.

"Maybe." Abby wasn't sure, but something had certainly triggered her into the alert. "Dr. Manners, can we have some sound please?"

Abby couldn't hear anything, the frequencies were too low, but she felt the vibration subliminally in her body. 

Slowly, she walked out into the corridor, staring up at the ceiling willing herself to spot some clue to the predator's whereabouts. She realised now that she'd been tipped off by the sound of claws scraping quietly on metal. Sounds that had ceased when the laptop fired. Her mind was racing. In the ARC, the predator had stopped dead, but the creatures were adaptable and intelligent. She shouldn't count on this one being incapacitated for long.

There was a sudden noise, uncannily like a human scream but drawn out. Then one of the ceiling panels ripped upwards. Abby immediately flattened herself against the wall. 

The predator dropped down through the ceiling.


	4. Chapter 4

The predator landed on the floor shaking its head from side to side sluggishly. 

Abby gripped the golf club in front of her, her hands sweaty on the handle. The creature turned and started to lope in her direction. There was a shriek from Dr. Manners followed by the clatter of something falling on the floor. The low vibration stopped. The predator picked up its pace.

It was moving fast, but still slowly enough to see properly as it reached Abby. She gripped the golf club and swung it with all her might against the creature's head. Behind her she heard the chime of a laptop restarting and Connor cursing quietly. The golf club hit the predator's head with a force that jarred her arms. The predator made a keening noise and its head swished from side to side. Refusing to let herself think, Abby swung the club again trying to ignore the horrible dull thudding sound it made as it connected with the creature. She was dimly aware that her only hope of survival was to keep the predator off balance. She swung again.

"Down!" The order was barked out with absolute authority and Abby flung herself flat on the floor as an automatic weapon fired.

Lifting her head she saw the predator turn and start down the corridor towards General Bambera who was firing an M4. It started to gain speed and Abby had a horrible fear that the weapon wouldn't be enough, but then the creature slowed and finally dropped into a bloody heap in the centre of the corridor.

Abby took a long shuddering breath and clambered to her feet.

* * *

Matt jumped when the speakers above him switched on in a sudden burst of static.

"Matt! It's in the ceiling! The predator's are in the ventilation ducts" Jess's voice rang out.

Matt was already dropping and rolling. The thing came down out of the ceiling tiles directly on top of him. He fired as it fell and kept on firing, aiming for its head and the soft, vulnerable skin beneath its jaw which meant there was no bone between his bullet and its brain. There was a waft of warm breath and Matt felt the thing writhe on top of him, before it fell dead to the floor and he was able to roll it to one side.

"Any more of them?" he shouted.

"Not that I can see." Jess stuck her head unexpectedly out of a door further down the corridor.

Matt stood up and reached her quickly, pushing her inside. There were four people crammed into the room where ancient, by his standards, machines hummed to the sound of the hard working fans.

"I've managed to patch into most of the security cameras." Jess slid behind a terminal that was perched, somewhat precariously on a workbench. Matt leaned over her. There was only the one small screen and Jess had a dozen cameras playing to it, each in a tiny window. Matt could see the T. rex in the main laboratory and Connor and Abby with two others just stepping over what looked like the body of another predator. Down in the garage, Lyle and Becker were standing by the entrance looking impatient.

"Did Emily get out?" Matt asked.

"Not yet. Her group is heading up to the walkway to the next building, I think. But they've stopped by one of the stairwells. I can't access the camera that's supposed to be monitoring it." 

Lorraine pulled out her mobile. "I'll let ops know where we are."

* * *

"It's OK," Connor said for the umpteenth time as the laptop finally finished loading windows. "Everyone was startled."

"I was the only person who dropped what they were holding though," said Dr. Manners miserably.

"Only 'cos we're used to those things. Don't be too hard on yourself."

Dr. Manners gave a shy smile. "Maybe I should stay here. Abby can carry the laptop."

Connor was interested to see Abby and the General exchange a quick glance. Abby shook her head subtly and Bambera nodded in agreement.

"If they're in the ventilation ducts, you're safer with us," said Abby gently.

"If we're lucky we won't meet any more of them," said Connor brightly.

"Lucky us, just the T. rex," said Dr. Manners but there was a slightly smile at the corners of her mouth.

"Piece of cake," said Connor. The laptop chimed softly as the music program started running. "See, no harm done. Let's get going."

Connor handed the laptop to Dr. Manners. Silently, General Bambera handed a second M4 to Abby and then the little party headed back to the main lab and the Tyrannosaurus rex.

* * *

"I can run ops from here," said Jess switching between windows on her monitor.

Lorraine stared at the girl's smiling face and nursed the phone she'd been using to talk to the UNIT team outside the building.

"And when they evacuate us?" Lorraine asked carefully.

"That Corporal Wise of yours can take over then. But I can see as much as he can from here and this is my day-to-day job."

"You only have the one monitor and no comms," Lorraine pointed out.

"There's a headset with a microphone in this box here," said Matt suddenly, pulling a tub of loose cables down from a shelf.

Lorraine resisted the temptation to scowl at him for encouraging Jess. But he must have read something in her expression because he whispered, "She really is very good," in her ear as he reached past her to hand the headset to Jess.

Lorraine had no doubt. That was, after all, the excuse Philip had used when he'd explained, oh so carefully, that she wouldn't be promoted to field coordinator.

Jess had already plugged in the headset. "Can I speak to Corporal Wise?" she asked into the comms.

* * *

Price went through the doors first and it stuck in Emily's gullet to let him, but he was the trained soldier, he was a man and, mostly importantly, he was wearing a Kevlar vest and a helmet. She made him pull the visor down before he went, getting as much protection as he could. She flung open the doors to their corridor, letting as much light into the stairwell as she could and Price stood tall and looked for a target, while Emily flattened herself against the wall and tried to look as small and uninteresting as possible.

She wasn't entirely surprised when the predator dropped out of nowhere from the turn in the stairs above them, all teeth and claws and flashing glimpses of grey blue flesh. Price didn't even have time to let off a shot as the creature knocked him to the ground, gripping hold of his back, but at least it was staying still.

Emily didn't pause; she strode forwards, a knife in either hand and plunged them both into the back of the predator's neck, angled upwards to where she hoped the brain might be.

The future predator screamed, a high pitched sound that echoed off the enclosed walls of the stairwell. With an effort, Emily removed one of the knives and slashed towards the rib-cage but the creature had already gone limp, a dead weight on Price's back. Emily pushed it off and Price staggered to his feet.

"Captain Lyle will have a fit when he hears you brought two bloody great knives into the building."

"I don't like to go unarmed," Emily said wiping the worst of the blood and gore off the weapons before returning them to the sheaths at the back of her waist.

Hughes and Biggs struggled into the stairwell with Watson. Suddenly Price handed Emily his gun. "We'll move faster if I carry one end of that stretcher," he said.

He nudged Biggs out of the way. Emily nodded and took point, moving up the stairs.

* * *

The door to the lab was buckled outwards. The T. rex was still trapped inside but it was clawing at gaps that had opened around the edge.

"That's not going to hold it for much longer," remarked the General.

"Your guns aren't going to be much use though," said Connor.

"Can't we just let it out and then nip in and close the anomaly?" asked Dr. Manners.

Abby chewed her lip. "I don't like the idea of that thing on the rampage in the main building and while it's in the lab it's stopping anything else coming through the anomaly."

"Lyle should be here with a rocket launcher soon," agreed the General.

"Guys! I don't think that door is actually going to hold a lot longer," interrupted Connor nervously.

"What about the observation deck?" asked Abby.

"Abby, Connor, I've got you on visual," Jess's voice came in over the speakers.

"Is the observation deck safe?" asked Abby.

"She can't hear you, she's using the emergency speaker system," said the General.

"That T. rex is about to break out!" said Jess.

Abby rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting about stating the obvious.

"There's an observation deck up the staircase to your right. I suggest you go up there."

Connor grinned. "Great minds think alike!"

"Fools seldom differ." But Abby smiled back at him.

They filed up the dingy stairway back to the long narrow room with large plate glass windows looking down into the lab below. They were high enough up that even the T. rex couldn't reach them.

"Well designed," remarked Abby.

"Have to keep bigwigs like me safe." Bambera's smile was wolfish.

* * *

The second floor opened onto a walkway that strung out across the grounds below and into the next building. A heavy metal doors, almost like an airlock, closed off the far end. Price and Hughes staggered towards it carrying the injured soldier between them. Emily allowed herself to retreat more slowly the gun trained on the stairs and the fire door they had just come through.

"I've got the code in my phone," said Biggs.

"Don't panic," advised Price. 

Emily risked a glance over her shoulder. Biggs was standing by a touch pad on the wall, balancing an iPhone in one hand and squinting at the screen.

Emily turned back to the fire door. It started to open. 

"Who's there?" she called.

The door banged open and Emily fired, not even waiting for sight of a target, all too aware that by the time she saw a predator, it would be too late.

"It's open!" shouted Biggs.

"In! In! In!" yelled Price.

Emily was running backwards as fast as she could. She couldn't see the predator and she let her eyes dart up and down, taking in the ceiling and the walls. She thought it hadn't actually come through the doors, deterred by the gunfire.

"Close the doors!" she heard Hughes say urgently.

"Emily hurry!" Price called.

The far door banged open again and this time she saw the blur of grey as the predator surged forwards. Emily fired, glimpsing the creature briefly up high and running along the ceiling. 

"You'll have to duck!" said Price.

Emily didn't dare look behind her. She ducked and fired and felt someone pull her backwards. Then she was inside the air-lock, the heavy metal door flush to the floor. 

Something banged against it on the far side.

* * *

There was a loud roar from below them and the door to the lab finally buckled, the T. rex surging outwards into the corridor beyond.

"Time to go down and lock the anomaly, yeah?" asked Connor.

Abby held out a hand. "Let's just give it a moment to get clear."

"And what if something else comes through the anomaly? You've said yourself that they seem to attract predators." Connor glanced out through the plate glass windows.

Abby rolled her eyes, but he was right. She'd seen enough anomalies to know that animals were drawn to them like moths. 

She glanced at the General who nodded.

"Manners, stay up here. You two!"

Bambera grinned at Connor and Abby and then cautiously began to descend the small staircase. Abby kept close behind, listening out for the T. rex.

There came a small squeak from behind them. "Something's come through the anomaly!" Dr. Manners called down.

Connor clattered back up the stairs quickly.

"Bugger!" he muttered. Then he was behind her again. "Velociraptors," he explained.

"Just what we need."

"Well, just one of them, but you know, they hunt in packs."

"Don't remind me," Abby shuddered. They'd spent a lot of time in the Cretaceous keeping well away from the vicious ranging groups of dinosaurs.

"Can we confuse it with the laptop?" asked the General.

Abby shook her head. "Not a hope, different animal entirely."

"Looked like a juvenile. We might be able to trap it," said Connor.

"Or wait for Lyle and the heavy guns," suggested the General.

Abby shook her head. "We need to close that anomaly. Last thing Lyle needs is a pack of velociraptors in here."

"Have you a plan?"

"We make a lot of noise. Try to scare it back through the anomaly and then Connor can close it."

"Will that work?" asked the General.

"They don't like noise much. It wouldn't scare a big pack, but if it's a juvenile, it'll probably run away, back to the rest. We just have to hope we can close the anomaly in time."

"We could shoot it," offered the General.

Abby gave her a hard look. "Not unless it's absolutely necessary!"

"We don't really know what can and can't affect the time line. Best not to risk killing things if we can help it," explained Connor.

"I got briefed on that. Shame!" But the general didn't sound too annoyed about it.

They spilled out into the corridor just as the velociraptor was investigating the broken edges of the door the T. rex had destroyed.

"Grah!" Abby threw her arms wide and advanced towards the small creature. "Grah! Go on go back where you came from!"

Its head jerked up to regard her warily. She took a step forwards, waved her arms and growled again.

"Bambera! Fire a warning shot!" she ordered.

Bambera's gun banged loudly by her ear. The velociraptor's head spun around, apparently aware that something had passed close to it. Abby took a risk and ran at the creature. It immediately started and dashed backwards.

"Grah!" Abby shouted again, flapping her arms wide and urging it towards the anomaly. 

She was aware of Connor setting up the locking device behind her. 

"Grah!" The velociraptor dodged left, passed the anomaly and cowered in one corner of the lab.

"Can you handle a gun?" she heard the General say.

Her head flipped round to see Bambera holding out her M4 to a surprised-looking Connor.

"Err... yes. Well, in theory. I mean they usually only let me have stun guns because of that time I nearly killed a theme park manager."

"Take it, Connor!" Abby shouted.

"Right!" Gingerly Connor took the gun. 

Then Bambera swept round to Abby's right, her own arms spread wide. "Go on! You bugger!" she shouted. "Go back where you came from!"

The creature screeched and then darted through the anomaly.

"Now, Connor!" shouted Abby.

The light shot past her and the anomaly was locked.

* * *

"I don't want to alarm anyone but that T. rex is heading in our direction," said Jess watching the monitor. There really weren't many corridors that the dinosaur could easily fit in. In fact it was pretty much forced to follow the big central sloping path down to the large hanger. The server room was just off that corridor and Abby had a feeling the T. rex might be able to squeeze into the space.

"It's got no reason to come our way though," said Jim.

"There's plenty of meat in the hallway. It'll be drawn to the smell. Hopefully it won't notice us in here," said Matt.

"Oh God! That's horrible!" Jess threw her hands up to her face.

She watched several emotions chase across Matt's normally impassive features.

"Yes, it is," he said quietly.

Jess looked back at the monitor. "We have to bring the bodies in here!"

"We can't, Jess. It'll follow the blood trail."

"We can't just leave them out there to be eaten!" Jess felt her face flush with anger. She looked at Lorraine, willing her to back her up. 

Lorraine's face was blank. "It's too dangerous," she said after a long pause.

"We should bring Roger in at least," said Vandana. "He's got family."

Jess pushed aside the question of what family had to do with it. After all, at one level, she realised the whole idea was madness.

Matt rapped on the door, thoughtfully and then glanced at the monitors. "Who's prepared to carry a body? We've got time for one trip only."

Matt looked pointedly at Jim who gulped but nodded. 

"Vandana and I can probably carry one, if she's up for it, but I don't think it's a good idea," said Lorraine quietly.

"I'm game," said Vandana.

Matt handed his gun to Jess. "You cover us! Everyone, this needs to be quick!"

"What about the comms?" asked Lorraine, gesturing to where Jess was sitting at her monitor.

Jess sighed. "Wise is still arguing about jurisdiction. He can handle matters for a minute or two if he wants to."

Matt opened the door and Jess suddenly found herself standing, alone and afraid in the corridor, pointing a gun in the direction of the main corridor. Behind her she was aware of Matt giving swift and curt orders, and the sound of someone throwing up. 

"Move! Move! Move!" shouted Matt.

She felt more than heard the rush of people behind her.

"In!" Matt's voice was harsh.

Jess realised she had frozen in fear. She could see a snub nose edging around the far corner.

"Jess!" 

She blinked at the sound of Matt's voice and then dashed inside the room, just as the T. rex came in sight, turned and thrust its head and neck into the side corridor, teeth snapping.

The door slammed shut behind her and Matt was sliding the lock home.

"Close," whispered Matt.

There was a huge thud as the creature bashed at the wall.

"Will it hold?" asked Vandana.

"Long enough for Lyle to get here," said Matt.

Jess nodded firmly. "We saw how long the laboratory door withstood it. The design here is the same. We'll be fine." She hoped she was right.

She sat herself back down at the terminal, checking over the images once more, anxious to reassure herself by routine.

She felt Matt beside her, watching a predator on the monitor as it clawed at the metal door on the overhead walkway.

"Why did you agree to move the body?" she heard Lorraine asking Matt in a low, quiet voice.

Jess turned to see his reaction.

He looked up at Lorraine. "We never had the luxury of treating the dead with dignity. Sometimes it's worth remembering what I'm trying to protect."

Lorraine frowned slightly and then nodded imperceptibly, as if accepting the answer.

Jess looked at the three broken bodies now laid out in the corner of the room and shuddered.

The door reverberated to a particularly loud bang.

Jim shrieked. Jess turned to look and saw a vast claw had punched a hole right through the metal plates above the doorway. Up at the top, near the foam tiles of the false ceiling.


	5. Chapter 5

"How did that happen?" she asked.

"Weak spot." Matt brought his rifle to his shoulder and let off a couple of shots through the hole. Then he retreated in disgust. "It's hardly noticing."

The claw ripped back through the hole and tore upwards. There was a spark and the smell of burning. From outside there was a great roar. A large cable dropped down from the ceiling, its end sparking dangerously. Jess glanced at the monitor.

"It's still moving."

"Bloody creature's too stupid to even die from an electric shock!" Matt laughed and shook his head.

"It didn't like it though," remarked Jess. On her monitor she could see the T. rex backing off and moving away from them.

* * *

"Time to move in!" said Lyle. 

The squad had brought earpieces with them and a gun for Becker. He hastily patched into the UNIT frequency. Almost at once, Jess's voice rang in his ears.

"Becker, tell them I can do this."

"Do what?" Becker asked, surprised.

"Co-ordinate the operation from here inside the building. I have more experience at this."

"This is UNIT's op, Jess, and one of our objectives is to get you out of there."

"I've got the camera feeds,"

Lyle sighed. "So have we. We're happy for you to listen in and advise but Corporal Wise will be doing the coordination."

"I'm all set." A deep voice broke into the conversation. "I've got one future predator up on the walkway and a T. rex loose in the central corridor. Most of the civilians have successfully evacuated. General Bambera, together with two of the captain's associates have successfully contained the anomaly itself. They have Dr. Manners with them. I also have four administrative staff, including Miss Parker in the main server room with Mr. Anderson."

"Did you get that Jess?" Becker asked. "Does that agree with your assessment?"

"I guess so..." Jess sounded put out.

"Look, Jess! Coordinate with Wise OK," Becker pleaded.

"But," he heard her begin.

"You can still do all your information finding wonders and you can still advise if you have a good idea, but it'll only confuse matters if we don't have a clear chain of command."

"If you say so," she said tartly. 

Becker imagined her pouting and smiled quietly to himself.

"Right lads!" shouted Lyle. "We're going to get rid of that T. rex first because it's between us and the upper floors. Regular firearms are going to be about as much use against it as a water pistol which is why we've got the Gimpys. Barnes and I will set ourselves up at the far end of the hanger, everyone else is playing bait with Captain Becker. You're going to lure the T. rex into the hanger and then make yourselves scarce so the gunners have a clear line of fire." Lyle grinned. 

Becker said nothing but checked over his M4, more out of habit than in any expectation it would help matters.

"I've managed to access the lighting system. If I flash them on and off that might attract its attention," said Jess.

"What do you think?" Lyle asked Becker.

"No idea. Abby's stuck in there and she's the only expert we've got."

"Abby's the blonde right?" asked Wise. "I can phone the General and get them to move to Jess's position."

"I'm coming with you!"

Becker turned at the sharp voice to see Emily marching across the car park.

"I thought you were with Private Watson!" Lyle said.

"He's fine with the paramedics. My friends are in there."

Lyle looked to Becker for support. Becker kept his face blank. He'd tried ordering Emily to do things in the past and didn't really want to make the attempt again. Matt might, possibly, be able to give her an order but they had no chance. She'd only follow behind them if they didn't let her come with them.

"Heaven preserve me from ARC women. Fine!" Lyle snapped. "Someone kit her up with a vest and a gun."

* * *

Abby paced nervously about the lab, while General Bambera lurked in the doorway talking on her phone.

"I feel exposed here," Abby said.

"It's as safe as anywhere," pointed out Connor.

"Ops are asking us to regroup with your Mr. Anderson. They'd like Abby's advice with Jess and it would increase our firepower," said the General.

"What about the anomaly?" asked Dr. Manners.

Abby glanced at where the device was set up in the centre of the room. "I don't see why it would stop working. Especially if none of us are here to attract the predator into the room."

"In that case we'll regroup with the others," decided the General.

* * *

The hanger was large and mostly empty apart from abandoned boxes and crates. A couple of offices had been stuck down one side, but they weren't currently in use. Corridors led off it at regular intervals, including one at each side at the far end where Lyle and Barnes had set up their machine guns.

Emily was positioned by one of the offices with a soldier called Khan. Becker had taken a six man squad into the central corridor to lure the T. rex into the hanger. Emily's role was, if possible, to prevent the beast pursuing Becker's group too vigorously when they ducked into one of the offices or side corridors.

"We're on our way!" said Becker over the radio. The sounds of roars echoed over the headset a mere fraction of a second after the noise itself shook the walls and floor.

Becker came pounding out of the main corridor, a man and a woman at his heels. Emily took a deep breath as she watched the monstrosity that was behind them. It was gaining on Becker fast.

"Here it comes!" shouted Becker, swerving left. The T. rex skidded, its claws scrabbling on the smooth concrete floor and it swept wide and past Becker. 

Becker and his men disappeared into a corridor just as the machine gunners opened fire. Emily was satisfied to see a trail of blood open along the T. rex's side. It roared loudly, turned and then hurled itself down the hanger. Lyle and Barnes stuck to their stations, still firing the big guns.

Emily watched the T. rex closing in on the two men. Then, almost at the last minute. Lyle gave a signal and both leaped up and dived for cover lugging the heavy guns with them.

The T. rex tracked after Barnes, and, as it did so, its heavy tail swept Lyle off his feet as he ran, throwing him into the enormous doors at the end of the hanger. The machine gun skidded out of his hands and along the floor.

Emily gestured to Khan and they ducked out of hiding, opening fire in the general direction of the T. rex's head. Although their bullets were unlikely to hit anything vital, or at least anything that the T. rex couldn't manage without for a while, there was always the off chance that they might hit it in the eye, or the soft parts of the mouth. But distraction was their main intention.

The massive head flicked up, attracted by the sound and Emily was relieved to see Barnes disappear into a side corridor. The T. rex turned back quickly and trust its head into the opening after Barnes but the gap was too small and the walls too well built to let it through easily. Emily motioned Khan to continue with the distraction while she edged slowly down the side of the hanger towards the fallen machine gun. There was a big smear of red down the center of the floor and she had no doubt that the big guns were their best bet for putting the thing down. The scattered and trampled remains of the crates gave her cover of a sort.

The T. rex's head came up.

"Emily! This is Abby!" The voice broke into the headset Emily had been given to wear. "I'm with Jess. You want to move slowly. It doesn't look to me like the T. rex has good eyesight, so if you keep still it may not notice you."

The T. rex had stopped attacking the side corridor now and it turned back to the room. The stutter of gunfire fell silent as Khan prepared to run back into cover. The T. rex paused, as if assessing its surroundings and then turned to the motionless form of Lyle slumped against the far wall. Emily came close to swearing. It took two slow steps towards the man's form. Becker suddenly reappeared from a corridor and opened fire in an attempt to distract it. The T. rex ignored him.

Suddenly, a loud roar suddenly echoed out of one of the speakers mounted at the far end of the atrium. It sounded like a second T. rex was in the room. The creature paused and the roar came again. It whirled around and roared back, its tail thrashing angrily from side to side.

Emily edged closer to the machine guns.

"Get ready to duck and run lads if this thing heads for us," Becker's voice was low, but it carried clearly over the radio.

The T. rex twisted its head left and right.

"It's trying to see the other T. rex," said Abby's voice quietly.

Emily reached the machine gun. Although it had been knocked flying when Lyle went down, it appeared intact. Emily heaved it upright and she swung it around to cover the dinosaur. She didn't know exactly how it worked but she had handled a number of similar weapons in training with Matt.

"Emily, if that thing sees you, you're mincemeat," Becker's voice warned.

"Do you have a better idea?" Emily asked politely.

"Nope!"

Emily opened fire, tracking the shots to the dinosaur's head where hopefully she could do the most stopping damage, and where she was nice and clear of the men on the ground around the edges of the hanger. The T. rex roared loudly and reeled backwards as the bullets slammed into it. It turned once more. It pounded back down the hanger towards her and then appeared to dive, the great head lowering slowly to the floor. Emily threw herself to one side. 

The head slammed down on top of the gun but there was a loud crash as the giant's body followed it to the ground. Emily, scrambling away, saw the great hulk slide along the floor under its own momentum until it came to a halt next to Lyle, the crushed remains of the machine gun strewn like a trail behind it.

"Nice work with the distraction, Wise," said Becker as he helped Emily to her feet.

"Wasn't me, mate, your Miss Parker did it."

"It was Abby's idea actually," said Jess's voice.

"Well, whoever, good work."

Emily glanced down at Lyle, still lying unconscious on the floor where the T. rex's tail had swept him against the doors, and did her best to check his vital signs. Seconds later, a medic was next to her, Wyndham if she remembered correctly. 

"He'll live. Though he'll have a hell of a headache," the man said.

Emily looked up at Becker who nodded grimly. "Get him out of here. There's still a future predator on the loose. This is far from over."

"What's the plan, sir?" asked another soldier.

"Our priority is to reach the remaining civilians and escort them out of here. Then we'll go hunting."

* * *

"How are we doing?" Abby peered over Jess's shoulder. The vast corpse of the T. rex lay jammed against the hanger doors and she could see the soldiers regrouping and heading towards the staircase.

"Not lost anyone so far, though Lyle's taken a blow to the head," said Jess. She sounded worried.

"Don't worry about Lyle, he has a thick skull," offered Bambera, but Jess didn't look reassured.

"What's the problem?" Abby prompted.

"I've lost track of the predator."

"Where did you last see it?" Matt was instantly alert peering at the small monitor.

"Corridor B, just before the T. rex went down." Jess pointed at one of the images. "That was the last time Wise saw it as well."

"Building plans!" demanded Matt.

Abby blinked as blueprint after blueprint appeared on the screen, one overlaying another.

"What if it went into the ducts like the others?" asked Connor now also crowding around the monitor.

Jess paged through more plans, her fingers flying over the keyboard as the images twisted and aligned and suddenly Abby realised she was looking at a map of the ducts. She swallowed.

"Where are we?"

Jess pointed and Abby's eyes followed the long path that seemed to lead almost directly from their position to corridor B.

"We have to assume it's heading this way," said Connor.

"I'll go up into the ducts," said Matt with an air of decision.

"Are you mad? You don't have a chance in a confined space!" Abby stared at him in horror.

He grinned and there was a flash of adrenaline wildness in his eyes. "I've done this before. Besides if it attacks me then you'll hear it coming."

Abby grabbed the laptop. "I'll come behind you with this activated. It will at least give you a chance."

"Abby, no!"

Abby scowled at Connor, willing him to silence. "It's not really a lot safer down here," she said.

"Becker's team will be here soon. Why don't we wait?" asked Jess.

"Because there's no time." Matt had already pulled a table under a small hatch in the ceiling and was hauling himself up.

"Tell her she can't come!" said Connor.

There was a cough from the doorway and Abby turned to see Bambera watching them with an amused face. 

Matt paused and looked at her.

"Your team, Mr. Anderson, your team," was all Bambera said.

"I don't have time to argue, Connor. Abby can come if she wants or not if she doesn't. I have to go now!" Matt's legs vanished.

Abby scrambled up onto the table.

"Let me go!" said Connor.

"Why should you go instead of me?" asked Abby and she jumped experimentally catching hold of the edge of the hole and hauling herself up.

"Connor, can you rig up a similar sound system on this computer?" asked Jess.

Connor was momentarily distracted. Abby leaned back through the hole and allowed Lorraine to hand her the laptop.

"Good luck!" Lorraine said and risked a tight smile.

Then she was in a narrow crawlspace. She could just see Matt ahead of her, lying on his front with his gun sighted down the tunnel. She crawled up beside him.

"Set it going and then get back down into the server room," he said quietly. He didn't look at her. His gaze was fixed in the direction he expected the predator.

"I can't just leave you here."

"I hate waste of any kind, Abby, especially life. You're not needed here and your chances in the server room are better."

"Not by much."

"Still better."

Abby couldn't think of a refutation. She opened up the laptop. As she did so she felt Matt tense and then he started firing. The noise, inside the small tunnel, was deafening and Abby shook her head, trying to dislodge the ringing sound. She forced herself to set the program going before risking a look up while her hands moved to protect her ears. There was a blur of movement in the tunnel which slowed as it approached until she could make out the predator, still moving towards them fast even if it was no longer faster than the eye could track. 

Matt fired again and Abby jerked backwards instinctively, away from the sound. Then the predator suddenly lurched downwards, ripping a hole in the ducting and falling through to the corridor below.

* * *

Becker had just marched Lyle's squad into the main corridor of the administration wing when the predator dropped down through the ceiling.

"Fucking hell!" said Private Khan.

"I see it!" shouted Wise triumphantly over the radio.

"No shit, Sherlock," muttered Becker.

Emily, Becker noticed, was already firing as the predator bounced from wall to wall. The rest of the unit had fallen into a defensive pattern but their ability to strafe the corridor was limited by the uncomfortable knowledge of the administrators in the server room to their right and Matt and Abby somewhere up above them.

"No!" shouted Becker as the blur of movement suddenly punched its way through the server room door, finally completing the work of the T. rex.

* * *

Jess shrieked in surprise as the door buckled inwards. Bambera was already firing but Jess's heart sank as the rifle quickly fell silent, the magazine empty.

"Almost there," Connor muttered.

All around her people were screaming and trying to scatter away from the creature. Then an idea fell together in Jess's head just as Connor's hand hit the enter key. The predator was momentarily still in the doorway, frozen by the low frequency sounds and next to it swung the electrical cable that the T. rex had dislodged. Without thinking, Jess picked up her bag from the desk and flung it at the creature. The bag hit the cable, knocking the live end directly into the predator. There was flash of earthing electricity and a yowling sound, then the server room was plunged into darkness.

Seconds later, Becker was silhouetted in the doorway, his M4 aimed downwards at the predator's head.

"Didn't need me, after all," he said lightly.

If Jess could have flung herself into his arms she would have done, but the room was dark and full of people. She was just as likely to end up hugging the General as Captain Becker. Instead she sat still in her chair taking short, sharp breaths. Suddenly she felt a hand grasp hers and squeeze tightly.

"Well done, Jess," whispered Lorraine.

Then the emergency lighting came on and Matt tumbled back down through the ceiling. There was a brief three-way tussle for authority between Becker, Matt and General Bambera that Bambera won. Fifteen minutes later the ARC team was on the tarmac in front of the building once more, next to their SUV.

"All's well that ends well, I suppose," said Becker looking back at the UNIT research lab.

"Except that this is far from over," said Matt as he climbed into the car.

"What do you mean?" asked Jess.

"We don't really know who was behind all of that," said Connor.

"And they're not going to stop the experiments," added Matt darkly.

Jess looked back at the building. She felt Becker squeeze her hand. 

"Well it's all over for today at least," he said. "Let's get back and tell Lester that the job's done."


End file.
